Intelligence

U.S. says nothing extraordinary about its diplomatic correspondence

RIA Novosti

04:59 02/12/2010 WASHINGTON, December 2 (RIA Novosti) - United States embassy officials abroad did nothing that would contradict the common practice of diplomatic work, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Wednesday.

Whistleblower website WikiLeaks recently made public more than 250,000 confidential U.S. cables, which contain harsh comments about many world leaders.

"Our diplomats are posted around the world, so are the diplomats of many, many countries. They engage with other governments, they engage with private citizens, and they report back to capitals," Crowley told foreign journalists in Washington.

"Those reports are - we believe they're most effective when they're candid, when they're frank, when they're direct, when they help provide insight into the activities within a country and they inform our policies and our actions," he said.

"Our diplomats do that and diplomats of every other country in the world do the same thing. We're not going to change and we don't think that this will change the way that we approach our diplomacy and I doubt that this will change how other countries engage in their diplomacy," Crowley said.

The recent publication of secret documents caused media stir, but world leaders and diplomats were reserved in their reaction to the information leak.

The WikiLeaks website does not have a central office or any paid staff and its operations are run only by a small dedicated team and some 800 volunteers.

Wikileaks' founder, Australian activist Julian Assange, is being hunted by Pentagon investigators and is suspected of releasing confidential U.S. State Department documents. He is also wanted by Swedish authorities who suspect him of being tied to several sex-related crimes, including rape and molestation. Interpol said Wednesday it has added Assange to its international list of most wanted persons.